For many years, people have been wearing visor caps. These caps typically have a semi-spherical shell that fits over the wearer's head, and a visor or bill that extends perpendicular from the bottom of the shell. Also, sun visors, which consist of a hard visor and a small, curved frame are now becoming popular. The sun visors provide protection for the face and eyes from the sun without completely covering the head. Typically, the visor is worn over the face to shield the eyes from the sun and weather during golf, tennis and other outdoor activities.
While a normal visor provides adequate protection against the described elements, there are times when the vision of a person may be blocked by the visor, such as when one is working on objects that are overhead. Similarly, in narrow corridors or tight quarters, the standard length visor may strike the walls or other protruding objects. One solution has been to make the visor in two pieces: a fixed portion, usually attached to the shell, and a movable or extendible portion that is secured within the fixed visor so that the extendible visor can be pulled out when needed and pushed in when not.
Examples of some solutions to this problem are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,610,745 to Castanaro, 1,224,471 to David, 4,793,006 to Dawson, 756,258 to Maass and 566,326 to Kirshner.
The problem with all of these designs is that they require seemingly simple, but actually complex construction to enable them to work. For example, the Castanaro Patent teaches a slidable brim that is friction fit within a pocket. The inner end of the slidable brim is secured inside the pocket by three strings, which are secured to the brim. These strings prevent the brim from being completely removed from the pocket. Fastening the strings would be difficult in mass production. The David Patent uses a number of snaps to secure the brim to the top of the hat. In this case, the hat is of a cap style. Two sets of snaps are provided, which allow the brim to be kept in a retracted position in one case, or an extended position, using the other set of snaps. Maass teaches use of pins and slots that permit the brim to be extended. Dawson teaches use of an elastic band to hold the retractable brim, which has two large flanges that hold the brim in place against the elastic band. Kirshner uses snaps and elastic bands to secure the visor to the hat (another cap style that uses a snap to hold the crown of the cap down).
All of these designs require the use of snaps, bands or other such techniques to secure the movable brim in place, either in the extended position or in the retracted position. The instant invention dispenses with the need for all of these fasteners and restraint.